29 February 2016

A winter Egyptian Nightjar – Jubail

When travelling to a birding site in the very early morning, when it was still completely dark I found an Egyptian Nightjar sitting under a line of trees. The bird flew a short distance and landed where I took a couple of photos of the bird using a flashgun before it flew again a short distance and I left it in peace. Egyptian Nightjar is an uncommon visitor to Saudi Arabia with most birds seen in the months of August and September where they are often seen during the day. Winter birds are also occasionally seen mostly in the Eastern Province but they are generally seen as single birds like the one I saw rather than in small groups as occur in the summer months.